February 21 = Pops Birthday

Today was Pops' birthday!  The kids weren't awake when he had to leave for church but they'd make up for it later.  My brother had texted last night and asked if there was room for two more people in church- there was quite a group of family and friends coming over for birthday festivities.  I knew Matt has been missing the kids- his schedule hasn't been working out to where he can come up so he hasn't seen them since Christmas- so I asked if he'd want to hang out with the kids during church.  The kids have been loving playing outside because it's finally above freezing!  So I thought it would be a good way for he and Grace to get to see the kids.  They brought 34 books for Liam and Malia from the used book store in Mebane.  Here's Grace and Liam at an impromptu story time!

We wanted to get a picture of Matt and Grace with Liam and Malia but that didn't work out- we had to settle for one child at a time:

I'm so upset that I don't have any pictures from any other part of the day because it was such a good day!  We went back to Grandma and Pops' house after church and Zachary's Nana, Aunt Mary and Uncle Tim were there as well as two members of Pops' last church (who I adore), Will and Ron, were there with Will's mom.  The kids napped for most of lunch so we got to enjoy a delicious meal and Liam woke up in time for cake!  There were lots of great conversations and lots of jokes and laughs and love- it was just a great afternoon.  And then Grandma got to spend some more quality time with the kids outside while we got ready to go.  Describing the ride home would taint this otherwise super positive blog post so I'll leave that out- I'll just say Malia hates riding in the car and that we were thrilled to get home.

February 20 = New Chair Day

One of Grandma's friends gave Miss Malia some cool new stuff for her room- the favorite so far: this chair.

Sadie was a fan too!

February 19 = Traveling Day

Around Christmas, my brother came up to Maryland to pick me and the kids up and bring us back to North Carolina.  I would FaceTime with Zachary every once in a while during that week when he was back home and I was kind of jealous that he had all this alone time- he could watch TV in peace, he could sleep through the night... he could eat in peace... notice a theme here?  So he had mentioned he would take the kids to NC one time and I could stay behind and just have some alone time.  We were planning on doing it this weekend but this training thing came up and he wouldn't have had enough sleep to make the drive himself so we decided this wouldn't be the weekend- rain check!  In hindsight- I'm really glad I went- the kids slept through the night both nights which hasn't happened out of state in a long time.  Although the nighttime sleeping was great- there was no sleeping in the car until five minutes before we got there.  I was flipping through facebook as Malia was screaming her head off (after I tried everything I knew to do to get her to calm down of course...) and I saw this.  That is exactly how I would have felt had she gone to sleep... alas.
 

February 18 = Malia's Sick Day

Exactly a week after Liam's sick day, Miss Malia had a sick day of her own.  We took Liam to the CDC this morning and came home and our day looked like this:

February 17 = Gramps Video Day

My dad texted me this morning, like most mornings, telling me to tell the kids he loves them and to give them a hug and a kiss- such a chore ;)

So this morning, I decided to send Gramps back a response from his sweet text message in the form of this video:

Please notice Malia brings in an empty bowl and proceeds to use a spoon to consume some of the emptiness. 

February 15 = Daddy's Day Off

Today was President's Day so Zachary had the day off.  He knows what to do with a day off... take a nap!  When I was looking at this picture later, I really thought it was Liam but then saw the paci and knew it was Malia- I think they're starting to look more similar!

 Malia did this:

 For dinner, we had chicken casserole and corn on the cob- the kids love them some corn on the cob!

Later, Daddy gave some free rides... both kids had lots of fun playing around with their Daddy on his day off!

February 11 = Liam's Sick Day

I went to wake Liam up this morning and he was clearly not feeling well.  He felt a little warm to me but he just didn't want to get out of bed.  Usually, he's my alarm clock and even when that doesn't happen, as soon as I open the door he's ready to go.  This morning he just laid there and looked at me with the saddest eyes.  I had come in to get him because we were going to be late to the CDC.  After seeing what state he was in, I gladly called the CDC and canceled his reservation for the day.  He was such a sweet snuggler!  And as an added surprise- Daddy came home early to help me since this is usually my half day off :)

February 9 = Adele Day

I took a screenshot of a text I sent Zachary today so I'd remember to write about this story.  

The only problem with Liam's quickly expanding vocabulary is sometimes it takes me a while to catch on to what he's saying.  Like today.  He was playing music on his iPad and he was saying "DELL.... DELL" and I had no clue what he was talking about.  I was trying to figure it out all day.  Later he started it again and not having any idea what he was talking about I said "uh huh..." and started singing along with the Adele song he was so sweetly playing for us.  Then it hit me- He knew it was Adele singing- what a smart man!

February 8 = New Activity Day

First here's a picture of Malia making a mess... I don't know how she makes as big of a mess as she does:

Then- I took a picture of my keys because for the past two weeks we've been having to sign in at the front desk instead of just scanning our keychain because I had misplaced my keys.  I'll never know where they ended up because today, after two weeks of looking for these elusive things, Liam casually brought them to me.  Where he got them from will forever be a mystery.

Later, we did a new activity!  I've been saving toilet paper rolls in preparation for it and today was the day!  I labeled each with a different color- ones that I had little pom poms in and Liam had to put the pom pom in the roll that had the same color written on it.  I put little containers under each roll to catch them.  He had lots of fun!

February 7 = Trampoline Day

Liam is loving his trampoline- Malia loves it too but today we got a good video of him having lots of fun!

February 6 = USNA Basketball Game Day

Zachary has some of his midshipmen on the basketball game so we wanted to go support them- he and I went not too long ago and while we were there we thought maybe the kids would be able to tolerate it.  Well our timing was a bit off- Malia fell asleep on the way there...

...and Liam was super close to falling asleep.

So I thought the kids would be miserable during the game but they actually did pretty well.  Thankfully we were able to bring snacks inside- the candy cane went a long way with keeping them happy and of course- the iPad.

February 5 = New Hairbow Day

Malia's been tolerating these little hairclips my mom got her relatively well.  So I found these that we had gotten a while back and tried.  She wasn't a fan at first:

 But eventually she tolerated it!

February 4 = Ebee's Car Day

Liam has a unique talent- identifying cars by the people who drive them.  It's crazy to me how good he is at this.  Any car that is the same make and model as Gramps', Grammy's, Grandma's, Pops', my brother's, my or Zachary's car Liam can identify.  He also has started identifying my friend, Amy's, car but he calls it "Ebee's car" for Evie's car.  Zachary and I were on the way to the gym- where he sees Evie most often- and he started yelling "Ebee's car, Ebee's car!!"  So I had to take a picture so I'd remember to tell the story of how smart he is!!

February 3 = Snuggle Day

This is the only picture I have from today but it's so cute it'll suffice.  I went in to get Malia up this morning and this is what I found:

She's squeezing and hugging the replacement Gigi my  mom got for Liam that he outright rejected.  He now calls her "Lala's Gigi."

February 1 = Errand Day

Malia woke up pretty early this morning so I was able to make her a good breakfast- waffles with blueberries!

 Then Liam woke up and he woke up on the wrong side of his bed.  I decided it would be in everyone's best interest to get out of the house so for some reason which Zachary cannot understand, I decided it was a good time to get Liam's hair cut.  I've been wanting to get it done but Zachary keeps saying to wait since it's so cold outside.  I couldn't wait any longer so I just took him.  This is how happy he was:

He did great though!  I stayed in the waiting area with Malia and while he fussed a little bit, he did so much better than I anticipated- especially since he was in an exceptionally bad mood.  He got a sucker halfway through which really helped and then another one after the haircut was done.  Here's the after picture:

 And here's where I messed up.  I should have just gone home.  He did a good job with his haircut- call it a victory and go home.  But instead I went to AC Moore and Chickfila.  Malia refused to sit in her seat so she sat in my lap.  I got clued in real quick as to why she was upset... she had a wet diaper.

 Cloth diapers save a lot of money but this isn't as uncommon as you'd hope.

Liam was doing such a great job drinking his chocolate milk!  Until he put it down on the table, forgot it was there and knocked it on the floor.  Malia dumped all of her chicken nuggets on the floor.  And cried the whole time.  Like... the whole time.  It was a disaster.

So after nap, we regrouped and tried this activity:

I kept the sticks that held the fruit from my edible arrangement Zachary got me for my birthday and stuck it in a tub of playdough.  Then I gave Liam cheerios and had him put them on the stick- it's a great fine motor exercise.  He did it with the first few but then questioned why he was putting them on the stick instead of eating them and then that was over. 

January 31 = Family Day

Sundays are probably my favorite day- we usually try to do something outside of the house on Saturday but usually Sundays are low key days- especially during football season.  This morning, Grandma watched the kids while we went to the grocery store.  Such. A. Help.  We saw our old neighbors at the commissary with their two kids.  The dad questioned our decision to use time away from the kids to go to the grocery store but then he looked at the two carts they were having to push and his wife begging the baby to stop crying and I think he got it.  Here's Grandma and Liam while mom & dad were away:

 Then we got some family pictures:

And Zachary started a new game with Malia.  He does the "I got your nose" game and she gets it back from him and returns it to its rightful place!

January 30 = Date Night

Mo asked us a few weeks ago when a good time for her to come up to Maryland would be.  We immediately responded- this weekend would be great!  We love to have the grandparents up to spend time with them and for them to spend time with the kids.  We got a bonus tonight though in that Grandma turned into babysitter and Zachary and I got to go out on a date!

We had dinner at Brio and then went to Target... because Target makes everything better... and we went to a hiking store... Eastern Mountain Sports?  I can't remember what it's called but Zachary loves it.  It was so nice to get away for a few hours and be able to have a conversation without it being interrupted.  Oh and to go out to eat and not have to be stressed the whole time- that was really nice too!

January 29 = Trampoline Day

First, I think this is so cool- you answer questions about your beliefs, and this quiz shows you what candidate agrees with you!  If you want to take it, click here!

Anyway- Liam has warmed up to the trampoline a little bit- he's not doing too much jumping yet... I think he's still getting comfortable with it.

Also... this facebook meme made me laugh and while I've never put laundry in the oven, I wouldn't be surprised if I did.

January 28 = Spaghetti Night

Zachary had to stay late tonight so I planned spaghetti for dinner because it's easy to make while the kids are running around- if I have to step away for a minute, it's not the end of the world- and because the kids love it and can eat it by themselves...

Also!  They got a new toy today- Grammy & Gramps got Liam a trampoline- the physical therapist has mentioned a few times it would be a good thing for him to have and now he does!  Hopefully he warms up to it...

Oh!  And I have a cute story from the CDC today.  When I dropped him off this morning, everyone had lined up for a walk in pairs.  There was one little girl who didn't have a walking buddy so when we came in, the teachers asked Liam to hold her hand.  He looked really hesitant and the teachers knew immediately he was looking for Maddy.  I've mentioned her before- she's taken him under her wing and I love it so much- so they rearranged the partners so that Liam could hold Maddy's hand.  So sweet!

January 26 = New Hiding Place Day

First I'm going to share a picture of the most beautiful girl in the world:

I just love that even with her paci in her mouth, you can tell by her expressive eyes that she's smiling.  
We rearranged the living room last night- we thought it was temporary.  Zachary and I were watching our new obsession- How to Get Away with Murder- and we moved the couch so we could get some good snuggling in and both see the TV well.  We left the couch there over night and then the next morning decided we liked it that way.  So this table that was next to the couch is now in the corner of the room and while sitting under it, Liam and Malia think they're so very sneaky!

January 25 = No Work Day!

USNA was shut down today because of the snow so we got to keep Zachary at home for most of the day!  He did go check in because he loves his job but we got some good family quality time today!  Here's the snow I had to battle to get in the car:

First let me show you some Malia sass and then I'll tell you a funny story that happened today that reiterates her sass:

My friend, Amy, went to pick up her daughter, Evie, from the Kids Club at the gym and they commented that she was doing a duck face a lot.  The girl added there's a girl that comes in the evening a lot that does the duck face the whole time.  Amy asked, "Are you talking about Malia?"  She was.  Malia is known as the duck face girl at the gym.

We went out to dinner.  This may seem like a minor detail of the day but we never ever go out to dinner.  We went to Red, Hot & Blue and got some ribs, mashed potatoes, fried okra, hush puppies and french fries.  The kids were not perfect... but they weren't terrible.  So it was a win.

And Zachary got to enjoy some late night snuggles with both cats!  Marley is there on his chest with her pretty little pink flower and Joey's in his lap- not quite as visible but he's there!